Wildlife

Ethiopian wolf

Ethiopian wolves number fewer than 500 in the wild, and have the unfortunate title of the most threatened canid in the world. They are the only wolf species to exist in Africa, reduced to a handful of mountain ranges by pressures on their habitat. Ethiopian wolves live in close-knit territorial packs. Strong social bonds exist between members of the group. Adults gather to patrol and mark the territory at dawn and dusk repelling intruders, but individual pack members tend to forage alone.

Wild Africa

Saving Planet Earth

Graham Norton visits the roof of Africa to report on Ethiopian wolves.

Ethiopian wolves are the world’s most endangered canine with fewer than 500 adults surviving in just a handful of small, isolated pockets in the mountains of Ethiopia. Their specialisation for the alpine altitude makes their survival all the more precarious. With the continued loss of habitat resulting from the spread of farming and from overgrazing, the wolves are running out of places to live and their small population makes them vulnerable to diseases such as rabies. Conservation efforts to sterilise and vaccinate the local domestic dogs together with community education projects and eco-tourism might be beginning to help the Ethiopian wolf's cause.

Wild Africa

The last bastion of the Ethiopian wolf is shrinking fast.

Pups mob the adults as they return to the den, until food is regurgitated for the pups to eat. The scene may look idyillic, but the Ethiopian wolf's fragile habitat is shrinking as Africa's climate continues to warm up and the highlands are eroded. The remaining 1,000 wolves are truely marrooned on the roof of Africa.

Video collections

One third of known species are under threat - do they have more than a future on film? We've unearthed footage of some remarkable animals, plants and habitats that are facing an imminent threat to their survival.